Financial Aid 101: Tips and Advice Q&A from the webinar held Jan. 20, 2015

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1 Financial Aid 101: Tips and Advice Q&A from the webinar held Jan. 20, 2015 Responses from Erin Wolfe, Director of Student Financial Services; Katie Erdley, Associate Director of Student Financial Services; and Brent Wallisch, Assistant Director of Student Financial Services The questions submitted via the live session have been edited for clarity and similar questions were combined to eliminate redundancy. Responses have been modified as needed to more appropriately address the revised questions or provide additional information. FINANCIAL AID AWARDS My student was awarded a merit scholarship. Financial aid would be monies awarded in addition to his scholarship, right? A merit scholarship awarded through the admission process is based on the student s academic achievement and position in our applicant pool, and has nothing to do whatsoever with financial need. Merit scholarships are incorporated into a need-based aid package, which could include state, federal, and SU funds. What is an average financial package that you offer? Our average scholarship and grant aid was $27,426 during the academic year. If my son receives a local grant or other local scholarship, does the amount of his financial aid change? In most instances students see no change to the aid that SU has offered. In some situations, federal work study or loan amounts might change to accommodate the additional award. In rare circumstances, we need to reduce Susquehanna gift aid. How do you apply for a PHEAA grant? Your FAFSA doubles as your application for the PA state grant. PHEAA requires some additional paperwork, which you can complete online immediately upon filing the FAFSA, or select to print and mail to the Agency. The state grant awards are determined by PHEAA s board of directors and final awards are communicated directly to the student by the Agency. Awards made by PHEAA are typically in the form of grants, which means they don t need to be repaid. You can find details on PHEAA s website at

2 Q&A Page 2 What advice or options can you give a student whose parent cannot provide any financial help? Your financial aid package is based on your parents income, regardless of their willingness or ability to help you, and ultimately the responsibility of paying for college rests with your family. You certainly want to be applying for outside scholarship opportunities to help bridge the gap that might exist between your aid offer and our costs. I suggest that you complete the aid process and call the office to discuss payment mechanisms after you receive your aid offer. Is the PLUS loan available to parents only, or could my student apply for this loan? Through the PLUS loan program, parents may borrow an annual amount up to the cost of attendance less financial aid. Students cannot borrow a PLUS loan for undergraduate education. Is there a benefit to using the funds in a 529 all at once or is it better to spread them out over the 4 years if all the funds would only cover just less than one year? Good question! This is really up to you. If you are intending to borrow loans, it might be to your advantage to front load the 529 funds so you don t have interest accruing beginning with year one. You may want to check in with your 529 plan to make sure there are no restrictions on how you use the funds. Although Division 3 schools do not provide athletic scholarships, can additional academic funding be available to support those athletes who display this unique skill characteristic? No. Student athletes are considered for merit awards through the admission process, just like all other applicants to Susquehanna. We do not have merit based scholarships specifically for athletes. Do you require the CSS Profile and when is it due for incoming students? The CSS Profile is required for Early Decision applicants only. Could we make interest payments on our student s Federal Direct student loans while my students in school? Yes, and we encourage you to do so! Your student will be notified of her loan servicer after her loans are disbursed to Susquehanna University in the fall. She will want to contact her loan servicer at that time to make arrangements to receive interest bills. She can find her loan servicer s information by creating an account on the National Student Loan Data System s website, What office at Susquehanna handles GI Bill use and Yellow Ribbon applications? We work jointly with our VA certifying official, who works out of our Registrar s Office. You can feel free to direct your questions to Financial Aid, and we will direct you appropriately.

3 Q&A Page 3 FAFSA GENERAL FILING QUESTIONS Is it better to file the FAFSA with estimated information or wait until February to file with actual taxes? You should file the FAFSA by March 1. If this requires you to estimate and update later, that is ok. You can log back into the FAFSA two weeks after filing your return electronically to update income directly from the IRS website by utilizing the IRS data retrieval tool. Is it possible to receive non-need-based aid without filling out the FAFSA? Yes. Non-need based aid would be a merit scholarship that Susquehanna would award, and that is done through the admission process. You ll need to file a FAFSA for any additional consideration. Who needs to sign the FAFSA? One parent needs to apply the electronic PIN, and the student needs to sign with his/her electronic PIN. I already have a PIN because I have a current college student. Do I need a new PIN? Do I need to file two FAFSAs? Parents can use the same electronic PIN for each student, but each student needs his own PIN and FAFSA. I have two last names on my Social Security card but only use one on my tax return/driver's license, etc. Do I need my FAFSA to have both last names? Yes, your FAFSA needs to reflect your Social Security card. I completed the FAFSA on line and received confirmations for the successful application. You mentioned a one-week turnaround from FAFSA. What do you do if that time is past and still no response from FAFSA or no SAR is identified? Be sure to check your spam box in your to make sure the didn t end up there accidentally. If you haven t received the SAR after 10 business days, you might want to follow up with the Department of Education by calling FED-AID. What is the purpose of the Student Driver s License Question on the FAFSA? This is used to verify your state of residency. What is the asterisk thing you mention that indicates the FAFSA is going to be selected for review? If your FAFSA is selected for verification, you will find an asterisk by your EFC. Your financial aid office will contact you for more information later in the process.

4 Q&A Page 4 FAFSA DATA RETRIEVAL TOOL Do you have to use the IRS data retrieval tool? You can enter the information yourself, or you can opt to utilize the data retrieval tool. The IRS Data Retrieval Tool is simply an easier method for some to use when applying for financial aid. The data retrieval tool can be used two weeks after your federal tax return is filed electronically. FAFSA INCOME REPORTING Several people asked us to repeat the box codes from the W-2 form where untaxed income is reported and which needs to be included on your FAFSA. The W-2 box codes are D, E, F, G, H and S. My parents live in Japan and do not file taxes in U.S. How am I supposed to report their income and so on? If you are a US citizen, you will still need to report your parents income in US dollars, using the exchange rate at the time you complete the application. Should I report the value of my 401(k) or IRAs on the FAFSA? No. You should only report the IRA if it is considered an educational IRA. Should a grandparent s 529 plan be communicated on the FAFSA? The value of assets owned by a grandparent is not reportable on the FAFSA. However, if a grandparent provides any type of financial support to the student, that support is reportable on the following year s FAFSA as student income. Should student savings bonds be listed as a part of the student s assets? Yes, if the student has savings bonds, the value should be listed as a student asset. How do we indicate that our 2014 tax return will not be reflective of the year to come, due to job loss, retirement, divorce, separation, etc.? Please call our office so that we can discuss your circumstances. We will likely have additional paperwork for you to complete. Is Social Security Disability considered taxable income on the FAFSA? No, it is not reported on the FAFSA. Is Long-term Disability Income from an insurance company reported on the FAFSA? The FAFSA considers disability as untaxed income. Please note, however, that you would not report Social Security on the FAFSA.

5 Q&A Page 5 FAFSA PARENT MARITAL STATUS & HOUSEHOLD SIZE INFO How do we determine household size? The household size includes the student, parents, parents other children (if your parents will provide more than half of their support between July 1, 2015, and June 30, 2016), and other people if they now live with your parents, and your parents provide more than half of their support. I am remarried. Do I include my husband s income on my daughter s FAFSA, even though he s not her biological father? Yes, the step father s income is included on the FAFSA. STUDENT EMPLOYMENT AND WORK-STUDY Do athletes also have time to participate in work-study? Yes. Many athletes have work study jobs. Is the ability for the student to obtain a campus job dependent on financial need? No. However some positions are specifically funded through Federal Work Study money. In those instances it would depend on financial need. However, at Susquehanna University we have quite a few positions for students who do not qualify for Federal Work Study. What are the pros and cons of answering the "Are you interested in being considered for work-study"? This simply lets the student financial services office know whether or not work-study should be incorporated into your aid package, if you qualify. Unable to find your question or the information you were seeking? Please contact our Office of Student Financial Services with your question via the information listed below. Thank you!